Fixture for checking positions of portions of articles



J. R. wl-:RTH

March 22, 1960 FIXTURE FOR CHECKING POSITIONS OF PORTIONS 0F' ARTICLESFiled June 19, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 /wyf/vrae Jl?. #Vf/@77% A free/vnMarch 22, 1960 J. R. wERTH 2,929,148

FIXTURE FoR CHECRING PosITIoNs oF RoRTIoNs' oF ARTICLES Filed June 19,1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Marcl1'22, 1960 Filed lJune 19, 1956 J. R. WERTH2,929,148 FIXTURE FOR CHECKING POSITIONS OF' PORTIONS OF ARTICLES 3Sheets-Sheet 3 www United tes tric Company, incorporated, New York,NSY., a corporation of Nen7 York Application .inne 19, V1956, Serial No.592,465 is creams. (ci. '3s- 174) This invention relates to a fixturefor checking articles, and more particularly to a device for supportinga plurality of relay parts having bent wire springs and f or checkingthe position of the ends of these bent wire springs. An object of theinvention is to provide a fixture for 'supporting articles and checkingthe position of portions thereof. A

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for supporting aplurality of articles and having a novel gage means for checking theposition of portions of the articles. Y

A device illustrating certain features of the invention may include aframe for supporting a removable magazine in which relay parts aremounted in a row with bent wire springs thereof extending from themachine.v The magazine is slid laterally on a pair of inclined railsinto engagement with shoulders thereon to carry the relay parts betweena plurality of leaf springs on a slide which is supported on the frameand is actuated to cause the leaf springs to seat the relay parts firmlyin the maga'- zine and to move the magazine longitudinally into apredetermined gaging position on the frame with the ends of the wirespositioned below and in close proximity to a gage plate supported on theframe. The gage plate has a plurality of slots therein of apredetermined uniform width and in a predetermined relation to each ofthe relay parts in the magazine to define precise areas in which theends of the wires must be positioned in order to meet the specificationthereof whereby the operator may look through the slots to check theposition of the ends of the wires to determine whether they come withinthe acceptable limits.

In another embodiment of the invention the gage plate has opaque gagingstripes thereon in predetermined relation to the relay parts in themagazine for masking the ends of the bent wires of the relay parts whichare positioned within proper limits whereby the operator may inspecteach set of wire ends through the gage plate, and if any of them arevisible beyond the opaque strips associated therewith, it indicates thatsuch relay parts do not meet the specification therefor without furtheradjustrnent.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent byreference to the following detailed description thereof, and theaccompanying drawings, in which Y e Fig. l is a vertical cross-sectionalview of theV device for checking articles showing the magazine and thearticlesV therein in full lines in gaging position and showing inYdotted lines a magazine in intermediate position;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through `the device lookingtoward the front with portions thereof broken away and taken online 2 2of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an aligning member insertable in themagazine;

Fig. 4.is an elevation view of the device looking per-r pendicular tothe Vgage plate thereof with portions broken' away and taken onw theline 4 4 of Fig. 1;

arent j Fig. 5 is a fragmentary face view of a modified embodiment ofthe gage plate, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the gage plate' shown in Fig. l andytaken on line 6'6 of Fig. 5; K

The present device 14 is designed to facilitate the visual checking ofthe positions 'of ythe ends 15 of wire springs 16 (Fig. 2) of a relaypart 18, after tension bends 19 have been made therein to determine ifthe ends of the bent portions of the wire have been uniformly offsetwithin predetermined limits to provide substantially uniform tension inthe Wire springs when Ythe relay parts 13 are` assembled with othercomponents of a composite relay. The wires 16 ofA a relay part aresupported ina row in a block 2li of molded dielectric material.

A predeterminedpnumber of the relay parts 18 are supported in a row inuniformly spaced relation to each other in a magazine which comprises apair of elongated L-shaped members 26 secured in spaced relation to eachother by a pair of spacers 28 at each end thereof. The parallel walls 29of the members 26 are spaced apart to'receive the blocks 20 therebetweenand these walls are provided with a plurality of uniformly spaced slots30 for Y receiving the wires 16 of the relay vparts. The blocks 20 ofthe relay parts engage one ofrthe'iianges 31 of the L-shaped members 26,which flanges 31 are spaced apart to provide a longitudinal slottherebetween; Pins 33 at each end of they magazine form handles to'facilitate handling the magazine.

The device 14 has a frame comprising a pairV of spaced verticalsubstantially rectangular end plates 3,7 secured to the ends .of ahorizontal transverse frame member 39 and a back plate 49. Thetransverse frame member k39 is in the form of a rectangular block whichis tilted at an angle in a front to back direction as shown in Fig. land portionsof the end frames' are cut olf at the same angle. lnclinedguide ra'ils 42 for supporting the magazine 25 are formed on the upperedges of a pair of vertically disposed plates 43 which are notched toreceive' the frame member 39 and which are secured to the end frames 37by'screws 45 and are spaced therefrom by spacers 46. A magazine v 25filled with relay parts' 18is placed on the upper end 'of the guiderails 42 with the pins 33 on the outside of the rails as shown in dottedlines in Fig. l and the magazine is moved downwardly into engagementwith the frame member 39 which forms a stop therefor, and this movementof the magazine carries the relay parts 18 between a plurality of leafsprings 49 mounted on and eX'- tending laterally from a slide 50. v AThe slide 50 `rests on the upper face of the transverse frame member 39and is guided for limited -reciprocable movement thereon by a pair ofscrews 51`which pass through slots 52 in the slide and are secured inthe frame member 39. Means are provided for actuating the slide 50 whichincludes a handle 55 rotatably supported, on a pivot 'pin 56 secured tothe slide 'and extending laterally therefrom. The handle 55 has aneccentric cam 58 fastened thereto which rides in a slot 59 inastationary plate 60 .secured to the `frame member 39 whereby in responseto turning the handle 55 theslide 5l)y is actuated in one direction tocause the i leaf springs to urge the relayparts lto the left as viewedinFig. 4 to press the Wires 16 of the relay parts firmly against oneside of the slots 30 in the magazine and to press the end of themagazine intor engagement with the end wall 37 to a predetermined gagingposition.

p With the relay parts 18 in gaging position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2',the ends 15 of the wiresV 16 are disposed below and in close proximityto a gage plate 65 which extends across the device 14 and` is supportedon a lU-shaped bracket 66, the downwardly bent arms 67` of which aresecured to the end frame plates 37. The gage plate 65 is formed with aplurality of -gaging Patented Mar. 22, reso areas, onejfor each set ofwires of the relay parts '18 supported in the magazine 25, which areasdeiine pre- ,y

determined limits within which the ends of the wire 16 of the relayparts must be postionedto render the relay parts acceptable.' v

In the preferred embodiment Vshown in Figs. 1 4, the gage plate 65 ismade from a sheet` of transparent plastic material such as Lucite orPlexiglas with` the upper surface thereof sand blasted or otherwiseroughened to render it translucent. The gagey plate has a plurality of`slots 6'7 which are arranged in a row in a predetermined spacedrelation to each other corresponding to the spacing of the relay parts18 in the magazine 25 and are positioned in predetermined relation tothe relay parts 18 in the magazine to dene areas or windows of limitedwidth through which the operator may inspect the ends 15 of all of thewires 16 of relay parts 18 to check their positions. Ihe side walls 7)of the slots 67 are spaced apart a predetermined distance to form limitsbetween which the ends 16 of the wires must be positioned to meet thespecications for the relay part 18. The wire ends V1S which arepositioned to either side of the slots 67 `of the gage plate cannot beseen by the operator through the slots 67 but are visible through thetranslucent gage plate 65 and indicate that those relay parts on whichsuch wires are mounted do not meet the jstandards set for them. Theparallel side walls 70 of the slots 67 also serve as an aid to theoperator in locating his point of vision during the checking of eachrelay part so as to permit him to view each set of wire ends 15 throughthe slot 67 associated therewith at an angle perpendicular to the gageplate 65.

In the magazines slight variations in the distanceA between the gagingend thereof and the rst slot 30 may prises a at metal strip having asharp straight edge 73 formed on its upper end, which is offset withrespect to the lower portion thereof a distance equal to the desiredoffset of the ends 15 of the bent portions of the wires 16 of the relayparts 18. The end relay 18 is removed from the magazine 25 and thealigning member 72 is inserted therein and a pair of pins 74 on thealigning member 72 engage a wall 29 ofthe magazine 25`t'o support thealigning member thereon in a predetermined position with theupperaligning edge 73 in close proximity to` the gage plate 65. A straightreference line 75 is inscribed on the underneath side of the gage platein a predetermined position for registration with the edge 73 of thealigning member 72 to indicate the proper alignment of the slots 67 inthe gage plate with the relay parts 18 in the magazine. The gage plate65 is adjustably secured tothe supporting bracket 66 by a pair ofrscrews77 (Fig. 4) which pass through slots 78 in the gage plate and threadedlyengage the bracket 66. Thus in the event that the reference line 75 ofthe gage plate does not coincide with the edge 73 of the aligning member72 in the magazine, the screws 78 may -be loosened and the gage plate 65moved longitudinally to effect the alignment of the reference line andthe aligning member 72 to establish the proper relationship between therelay parts 18 in the magazine 25 and the slots 67 in the gage plate 65to permit the accurate checking of the positions of the wire ends 15 ofthe relay parts.

v In the embodiment shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the gage plate 165.is acomposite structure and is made of transparent material `and has opaquestripes 167 correspondspaanse .Y y

ing to the slots 67 of the gage plate 65, and these opaque stripes 167serve to indicate the limits or range of positions of the wire ends 15of the relay parts which are acceptable. When using the gage 16S forchecking, the ends 15 of the wires of acceptable relay parts arepositioned under the opaque stripes 167 and are masked thereby so thatduring inspection of the relay parts when the wire ends 15 v,of therelay'v parts are` seen through the transparent portions of the gageplate, such relay parts are unacceptable. The composite gage platecomprises two sheets 165a and 16517 of transparent material mounted insuperposed relation to each other and secured to the U-shaped bracket 66by screws 177 which pass through slots 178 in the sheets and engage thebracket 66. The sheets 16541 and 16513 have a plurality of parallelstripes 167a and 16711 of opaque material in spaced relation to eachother corresponding to the spacing of the relay parts 18 in the magazineand these stripes 167a and 167b`are in overlapping relation to eachother. The width of the opaque stripes 167 of the composite gage sheetmay be varied to vary the gaging limits thereof by loosening the screws177 and adjusting the sheets 165e and 165b relative to each other untilthe desired width of stripes is obtained after which the screws 177 aretightened to secure the strips to the bracket in adjusted position.

` It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements aresimply illustrative of the application of the principles of theinvention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by thoseskilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention andfall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a fixture for inspecting and gaging the position of portions ofarticles, the combination of a magazine for supporting a plurality ofarticles in spaced relation to each other with the said portions of thearticles extending therefrom, a frame for supporting the magazine andhaving movable means engageable with each article to position thearticles and magazine therein in a predetermined position, a gage platehaving a plurality of slots of a predetermined Width in spaced relationto each other corresponding to the spacing of the articles in themagazine, and means on the frame for movably supporting the gage platein close proximity to the said portions of the articles in the magazineand with the slots positioned by the movement of the gage plate in apredetermined alignment to the articles whereby the articles may beinspected through the slots to check the position of the said portionsthereof.

2. In a fixture for inspecting and gaging the position of portions ofarticles, a frame, means on said frame for supporting a row of thearticles in spaced relation to each other, a composite gage platesupported on said frame in close proximity to the said portions of thearticles, said composite gage plate comprising a pair ci adjustablesuperposed transparent sheets each having a row of transversely disposedopaque gaging stripes thereon in laterally spaced relation to each othercorresponding to the spacing of the articles and with the stripes of onesheet in overlapping relation to the stripes on the other sheet, saidsheets being adjustable relative to each other to vary the combinedwidth of the overlapping opaque gaging stripes of the superposed sheets,and means for securing the, sheets to each other in adjusted positionwith the gaging stripes of the composite gage plate in a predeterminedrelation to the articles to mask portions of the article whereby thearticles may be inspected through the composite gage plate for checkingthe said portions of the articles.

3. In a iixture for inspecting and gaging the positions ofportions ofarticles, the combination of a magazine for supporting a plurality ofVarticle-s in spaced relation to each other with the said portions ofthearticlesextending therefrom, a frame for supporting the magazine and thearticles' therein in predetermindpsition, a gage plate supported on saidframe in close proximity to the said portions of the articles and havinga plurality of slots of predetermined width in spaced relation te eachother corresponding to the spacing of the articles in the magazine, analigning member onthe magazine ina predetermined relation to thearticles therein, a reference line on said gage member coope'rable withsaid aligning member, and means for adjusting the gaging plate on theframe to effect the registration f the aligning member and the referenceline t position the slots in a predetermined relation to the articlesinthe magazine for checking the positions of the said portions of thearticles. n

4. ln a lixture for inspecting andV gaging the positions of portions ofarticles, the combination of a magazine having a plurality of slots forsupporting a row of articles in spaced relation to each other with thesaid portions extending therefrom, a slide having a plurality of leafsprings extending laterally therefrom, a frame for supporting said slidefor movement in a predetermined direction and for supporting themagazine for lateral movement to a predetermined position with thearticles between the leaf springs, means for actuating the slide tocause the leaf springs to seat the articles firmly in the slots in themagazine and to move the magazine longitudinally in said one directioninto a predetermined gaging position on the frame, a gage plate mountedon the frame in close proximity to the said portions of the article inthe magazine, said gage plate having a plurality of parallel slots of apredetermined width in spaced relation to each other corresponding tothe spacing of the articles in the magazine and in apredeterminedrelation to said articles whereby the said portions of the articles maybe observed through said slots for checking the position thereof.

5. In a fixture for inspecting and gaging the position of portions ofarticles, the combination of a magazine having a plurality of slots forsupporting a row of articles in spaced relation to each other with thesaid portions extending therefrom, a slide having a plurality of leafsprings extending laterally therefrom, a frame for supporting said slidefor movement in a predetermined direction and for supporting theVmagazine for lateral movement to a predetermined position to locate thearticles between the springs on said slide, means for actuating theslide to cause the springs thereof to seat the articles rmly in themagazine and tomove the magazine longitudinally in said one directioninto a predetermined gaging position on the frame, a gage plate mountedon the frame in close proximity to the said portions of the articles inthe magazine and having a plurality of parallel gaging slots of apredetermined width in spaced relation to each other corresponding tothe spacing of the articles in the magazine and in a predeterminedrelation to said articles, an aligning element on the magazine in apredetermined relation to the articles therein, an aligning element onsaid gage plate, and means for adjusting the gaging plate on the frameto effect the registration of the aligning elements on the gage plateand on the magazine to position the gaging slots in a predeterminedrelation to the article in the magazine whereby the said portions of thearticles may be inspected through said gaging slots to check thepositions thereof.

6. In a fixture for inspecting and gaging the position of portions ofarticles, the combination of a magazine having a plurality of slots forsupporting a row of articles in spaced relation to each other with thesaid portions extending therefrom, a. slide having a plurality of leafsprings extending laterally therefrom, a frame for supporting said slidefor movement in a predetermined direction and for supporting themagazine for lateral movement into engagement with the leaf springs onsaid slide, means for actuating the slide to cause the spring thereof toseat the articles in the magazine and to move the magazinelongitudinally in' said one direction into a predetermined gagingposition on'l the` frame, transparent gage plate mounted on the frame inclose proximity to the said portions of the articlein the magazine andhaving a plurality of parallelopaque gaging stripes of a predeterminedwidth in spaced relation to each other corresponding to the spacing ofthe articles inthe maz- `a'zine yand in a predetermined relation to saidarticles whereby said portions of the article AmayV be inspected throughsaid gage plate for checking the positions of the said portions of thearticles;

7. 'in a fixture for inspecting and gaging the position of portions ofarticles, the combination of a magazine for supporting a plurality ofarticles in spaced relation to each other` with the said portions of thearticles extending therefrom, a frame for supporting the magazine' andthe articles therein in a predetermined position, a transparent gageplate supported on said frame in close proximity to the end of the saidportions of said articles and having a plurality of opaque stripes ofpredetermined width in spaced relationto each other corresponding to thespacing of the articles in the magazine, an aligning elementfon themagazine in a predetermined relation to the varticles therein, analigning element lon said gage plate, and means for adjusting the gagingplate on the frame to effect the registration of the aligning elementsto position the stripes on the gage plate in a predetermined relation tothe articles in the magazine to mask the said portions of properlyformed articles whereby the articles may be inspected through the gageplate to check the positions of the said portions thereof.

8. In a fixture for inspecting the positions of portions of articles,the combination of a magazine for supporting a plurality of articles inspaced relation to eachl other with the said portions of the articlesextending therefrom, a frame for movably supporting the magazine and thearticles therein in a predetermined position, a gage plate supported onsaid frame in close proximity to the said portions of the articles andhaving a plurality of parallel masking portions of predetermined widtharranged in a row in spaced relation to each other corresponding to thespacingof the articles in the magazine to define areas therebetween ofpredetermined width through which the said portions of the articles maybe seen to check the positions thereof, an aligning member on themagazine in a predetermined relation to the tarticles therein, areference line on said gage member cooperable with said aligning member,and means for adjusting the gaging plate on the frame to effect theregistration of the aligning member and the reference line to positionthe masking portions of the gaging plate in a predetermined relation tothe articles in the magazine.

9. in a fixture for inspecting the positions of the end portions ofcontact springs on electrical components, the combination of amagazinehaving a plurality of slots for supporting a row of the electricalcomponents in spaced relation to each other, a slide having a .pluralityof leaf springs extending laterally therefrom, a frame for supportingsaid slide for movement in a predetermined direction and for supportingthe magazine for lateral movement to a predetermined position with theelectrical components between the leaf springs, means for actuating theslide to cause the leaf springs to seat the electrical components firmlyin the slots in the magazine and to move the magazine longitudinally insaid one direction into a predetermined gaging position on the frame, agage plate mounted on the frame in close proximity to the end portionsof the contact springs on the electrical components in the magazine,said gage plate having a plurality of parallel masking portions of apredetermined width arranged in a row in spaced relation to each othercorresponding to the spacing of the electrical components in themagazine to define areas therebetween of predetermined width throughwhich portions' of the contact springs may be observed for checking theposition thereof.

10. In va fixture for inspecting and checking the position of contactsprings of'electrical components, a magazinefor supporting a'row ofcomponents `in a predetermined lspaced.relationship a frame for movablysupporting said magazine, a gage plate adjustably mounted on saidframeand having a plurality of uniform transparent areas spaced relative tothe spacing ofthe components within the magazine, means on said framefor engaging each component toniove and secure the magazine andcomponents into va predetermined inspecting position, indicating meanson said magazine, indicating means on said gage plate, and means foradjusting the position of the gage plate to move the gage plate indi`cating means into alignment with the magazine indicating means wherebythe position of the contact springs may be checked relative to thetransparent areas of the gage plate. Y

References Cited in the le ofvrthis patent Y UNITED STATES PATENTSBausch Feb. S, DOlier t Aug. 29, vfSchoof May 28, Gastrich July 30,Fiala Sept. 15, Dalkowitz Mar. 16, Baesgen ian. 13, Rigby May 22,Broughton Nov. 12,

"FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain July 12,

Great Britain June 17,

